Dutch violinist Simone Lamsma filled in for an ailing Janine Jansen this week at Severance Hall, giving an eloquent performance of the Britten Violin Concerto in her stead with the Cleveland Orchestra.

(Otto van den Toorn)

Overtly flashy it was not. Nonetheless, the Cleveland Orchestra's program this week had everything one could want in a season finale.

Little-known works by three masters might have made for a dry evening. With Vladimir Jurowski conducting, however, and a superb, last-minute rescue by a guest violinist, Thursday's performance at Severance Hall was anything but dull.

Jurowski, in his Cleveland debut, made a brilliant impression conducting Stravinsky and Prokofiev, and surely clinched an invitation to return. Even so, it was violinist Simone Lamsma, playing Britten, who must be said to have captured the spotlight.

Filling in for an ailing Janine Jansen, the rising Dutch violinist managed on her Cleveland debut not just to get through the originally scheduled work, Britten's Violin Concerto, but also to triumph with it. Thus did she go down in history both for a remarkable substitution and for giving the work's Severance premiere.

A challenging piece no one keeps at the ready, the Britten had clearly been on Lamsma's mind for some time. So polished, expressive and intense was her performance, the latest she could have set it aside was last week.

Considerable though they were, the score's technical hurdles barely seemed to faze Lamsma. Rather, she cleared them easily by focusing on the high-running emotions behind them, channeling their power to flood the listener with spectral, blazing sound. One might even call her account of the Passacaglia draining.

She also got a lot of help. At every step, Jurowski and the orchestra supplied their guest a vibrant backdrop, an alluring environment rich in color from such instruments as the glockenspiel, tuba, piccolo and an array of percussion. May Lamsma and the Britten be heard here again.

Ditto Jurowski, principal conductor of the London Philharmonic Orchestra. Performing his own selections from the ballet "Cinderella," the maestro displayed an uncanny aptitude for Prokofiev and phenomenally keen senses of articulation and dynamic control.

Much as the title character loses track of time, so did the audience Thursday get caught up in a nearly hourlong performance replete with humor, affection and drama. Jurowski's deep background in opera was apparent throughout as he accented key developments, dabbled in exaggeration, and moved swiftly from one number to the next.

Though helpful, the supertitles he had projected above the stage were unnecessary. In such scenes as "The Dancing Lesson," especially, one hardly needed help identifying the principal bassoon and oboe as the clumsy sisters and the two principal violins as their undoubtedly frustrated accompanists.

Jurowski's handling of the orchestra was no less deft. In fact, the conductor kept the ensemble on exceedingly tight reins, permitting him flexible tempos and to twist the volume knob however finely or dramatically he wished.

Last heard here 20 years ago, Stravinsky's "Scherzo fantastique" received only its second performance at Severance Thursday night. But what a performance it was, an early taste of the joys to come in "Cinderella."

Effervescent, lyrical, flush with instrumental color, the short work at the outset of the program set a high bar that Jurowski and colleagues had no trouble topping. A finale the concert may have been, but for the conductor and Lamsma in Cleveland, one hopes this week marks only the beginning.